2015 Players Championship
The 2015 Players Championship was a golf tournament in Florida on the PGA Tour, held May 7–10 at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, southeast of Jacksonville. It was the 42nd Players Championship.
| Tournament information | |
|---|---|
| Dates | May 7–10, 2015 |
| Location | Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida 30.198°N 81.394°W |
| Course(s) | TPC Sawgrass, Stadium Course |
| Tour(s) | PGA Tour |
| Statistics | |
| Par | 72 |
| Length | 7,215 yards (6,597 m) |
| Field | 144 players, 75 after cut |
| Cut | 144 (Even) |
| Prize fund | $10.0 million |
| Winner's share | $1.80 million |
| Champion | |
 Rickie Fowler | |
| 276 (−12), playoff | |
| Location Map | |
  TPC Sawgrass Location in the United States  TPC Sawgrass Location in Florida | |
Rickie Fowler won the tournament, beating Kevin Kisner and Sergio García in a playoff.[1][2][3]
Trailing by five shots with six holes to play, Fowler played them at six-under-par, going birdie-par-birdie-eagle-birdie-birdie to force a playoff.[4][5] After the three-hole aggregate playoff (holes 16–18) ended with Kisner and Fowler still tied, they returned to the 17th for sudden-death. Fowler put his tee shot to five feet (1.5 m) on the island green 17th, and made birdie to win.[6][7][8]
Defending champion Martin Kaymer finished twelve strokes back at even par, tied for 56th place.
Venue
This was the 34th Players Championship held at the TPC at Sawgrass Stadium Course and it remained at 7,215 yards (6,597 m).
Course layout
| Tee | Rating/Slope | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Out | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | In | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yards | 76.8 / 155 | 423 | 532 | 177 | 384 | 471 | 393 | 442 | 237 | 583 | 3,642 | 424 | 558 | 358 | 181 | 481 | 449 | 523 | 137 | 462 | 3,573 | 7,215 |
| Par | 4 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 36 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 36 | 72 |
Field
The field consisted of 144 players meeting the following criteria:
Bae Sang-moon (2), Ángel Cabrera (2), Alex Čejka, Ben Crane (2), Jason Day (2,6,8,12), Matt Every (2,8), Jim Furyk (2,8), Bill Haas (2,8), James Hahn (2), Brian Harman (2), Pádraig Harrington, Charley Hoffman (2,8,12), J. B. Holmes (2,8,12), Billy Horschel (2,7,8), Dustin Johnson (2,6,8,12), Martin Kaymer (2,4,5,8), Chris Kirk (2,8), Brooks Koepka (8), Hunter Mahan (2,8), Ben Martin (2), Hideki Matsuyama (2,8,12), Rory McIlroy (2,4,6,8), Ryan Moore (2,8,12), Geoff Ogilvy (2), Patrick Reed (2,6,8,12), Justin Rose (2,4,8), Adam Scott (2,4,8), Brandt Snedeker (2,7,8), Jordan Spieth (2,4,8,12), Robert Streb (2), Kevin Streelman (2), Nick Taylor, Brendon Todd (2,8), Camilo Villegas (2), Jimmy Walker (2,8,12), Bubba Watson (2,4,6,8,12)
- Tim Clark (2,5) did not play.
- 2. Top 125 from previous season's FedEx Cup points list
Robert Allenby, Aaron Baddeley, Ricky Barnes, Jonas Blixt, Jason Bohn, Steven Bowditch, Keegan Bradley (4,6,8), Scott Brown, Paul Casey (8), Kevin Chappell, K. J. Choi (5), Stewart Cink, Erik Compton, Brian Davis, Brendon de Jonge, Graham DeLaet, Luke Donald, Jason Dufner (4), Ernie Els (4), Harris English, Gonzalo Fernández-Castaño, Martin Flores, Rickie Fowler (8), Sergio García (8), Brice Garnett, Robert Garrigus, Retief Goosen, Luke Guthrie, Chesson Hadley, David Hearn, Russell Henley (8), Morgan Hoffmann, Charles Howell III, John Huh, Billy Hurley III, Ryo Ishikawa, Freddie Jacobson, Zach Johnson (8), Matt Jones, Jerry Kelly, Kevin Kisner, Russell Knox, Jason Kokrak, Matt Kuchar (5,6,8), Scott Langley, Danny Lee, Marc Leishman, Justin Leonard, Will MacKenzie, Graeme McDowell (4,8), William McGirt, George McNeill, Troy Merritt, Phil Mickelson (4,8), Bryce Molder, Kevin Na (8), Noh Seung-yul, Louis Oosthuizen (4,8), Jeff Overton, Ryan Palmer (8), Pat Perez, Carl Pettersson, Ian Poulter (6,8), Michael Putnam, Andrés Romero, Rory Sabbatini, Charl Schwartzel (4,8), John Senden, Webb Simpson (4,8), Vijay Singh, Scott Stallings, Brendan Steele, Shawn Stefani, Henrik Stenson (7,8), Steve Stricker, Chris Stroud, Brian Stuard, Daniel Summerhays, Andrew Svoboda, Michael Thompson, David Toms, Cameron Tringale, Bo Van Pelt, Jhonattan Vegas, Nick Watney, Boo Weekley, Lee Westwood (8), Tim Wilkinson, Gary Woodland
- Stuart Appleby, Justin Hicks, and Kevin Stadler did not play.
- 3. Top 125 from current season - Medical Extension
- 4. Major champions from the past five years
- 5. Players Championship winners from the past five years
Tiger Woods (6)
- 6. WGC winners from the past three years
- 7. The Tour Championship winners from the past three years
- 8. Top 50 from the Official World Golf Ranking
Jamie Donaldson, Stephen Gallacher, Branden Grace, Thongchai Jaidee, Anirban Lahiri, Shane Lowry, Joost Luiten, Bernd Wiesberger, Danny Willett
- Victor Dubuisson did not play.
- 9. Senior Players champion from prior year
- 10. Web.com Tour money leader from prior season
- 11. Money leader during the Web.com Tour Finals
- 12. Top 10 current year FedEx Cup points leaders
- 13. Remaining positions and alternates filled through current year FedEx Cup standings
Daniel Berger, Sean O'Hair, Justin Thomas
Nationalities in the field
| North America (88) | South America (4) | Europe (26) | Oceania (12) | Asia (7) | Africa (7) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
.svg.png.webp){kind=small} Canada (4) |  Argentina (2) |  England (7) | .svg.png.webp){kind=small} Australia (9) |  India (1) |  South Africa (6) |
| United States (84) |  Colombia (1) |  Northern Ireland (3) |  Fiji (1) |  Japan (2) |  Zimbabwe (1) |
 Venezuela (1) |  Scotland (2) |  New Zealand (2) |  South Korea (3) | ||
.svg.png.webp){kind=small} Wales (1) |  Thailand (1) | ||||
 Ireland (2) | |||||
 Austria (1) | |||||
 Germany (3) | |||||
 Netherlands (1) | |||||
 Spain (2) | |||||
 Sweden (4) |
Round summaries
First round
Thursday, May 7, 2015
Second round
Friday, May 8, 2015
| Place | Player | Country | Score | To par |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| T1 | Jerry Kelly | United States | 71-65=136 | −8 |
| Kevin Na | United States | 67-69=136 | ||
| T3 | Rickie Fowler | United States | 69-69=138 | −6 |
| Branden Grace | South Africa | 71-67=138 | ||
| David Hearn | Canada | 67-71=138 | ||
| Chris Kirk | United States | 70-68=138 | ||
| T7 | Scott Brown | United States | 72-67=139 | −5 |
| Bill Haas | United States | 72-67=139 | ||
| Zach Johnson | United States | 71-68=139 | ||
| Ben Martin | United States | 68-71=139 | ||
| Troy Merritt | United States | 68-71=139 | ||
| Chris Stroud | United States | 70-69=139 |
Third round
Saturday, May 9, 2015
| Place | Player | Country | Score | To par |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chris Kirk | United States | 70-68-68=206 | −10 |
| T2 | Bill Haas | United States | 72-67-68=207 | −9 |
| Kevin Kisner | United States | 73-67-67=207 | ||
| Ben Martin | United States | 68-71-68=207 | ||
| T5 | Scott Brown | United States | 72-67-69=208 | −8 |
| Sergio García | Spain | 69-72-67=208 | ||
| David Hearn | Canada | 67-71-70=208 | ||
| Jerry Kelly | United States | 71-65-72=208 | ||
| Kevin Na | United States | 67-69-72=208 | ||
| Justin Thomas | United States | 73-70-65=208 |
Final round
Sunday, May 10, 2015
| Champion |
| (c) = past champion |
| Place | Player | Country | Score | To par | Money ($) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| T1 | Rickie Fowler | United States | 69-69-71-67=276 | −12 | Playoff |
| Sergio García (c) | Spain | 69-72-67-68=276 | |||
| Kevin Kisner | United States | 73-67-67-69=276 | |||
| T4 | Bill Haas | United States | 72-67-68-70=277 | −11 | 440,000 |
| Ben Martin | United States | 68-71-68-70=277 | |||
| T6 | Kevin Na | United States | 67-69-72-71=279 | −9 | 347,500 |
| Rory Sabbatini | South Africa | 70-71-69-69=279 | |||
| T8 | Jamie Donaldson | Wales | 70-72-71-67=280 | −8 | 270,000 |
| Brian Harman | United States | 71-69-70-70=280 | |||
| Ryo Ishikawa | Japan | 71-69-69-71=280 | |||
| Rory McIlroy | Northern Ireland | 69-71-70-70=280 | |||
| John Senden | Australia | 73-70-67-70=280 |
Source:[9]
Scorecard
Final round
| Hole | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Par | 4 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 4 |
| Fowler | −6 | −6 | −6 | −6 | −6 | −6 | −7 | −7 | −7 | −6 | −6 | −6 | −7 | −7 | −8 | −10 | −11 | −12 |
| García | −7 | −8 | −8 | −9 | −10 | −11 | −11 | −11 | −11 | −11 | −11 | −11 | −11 | −10 | −10 | −11 | −12 | −12 |
| Kisner | −9 | −10 | −10 | −9 | −8 | −9 | −9 | −9 | −9 | −9 | −9 | −10 | −10 | −10 | −10 | −11 | −12 | −12 |
| Haas | −9 | −9 | −10 | −10 | −10 | −10 | −9 | −8 | −7 | −8 | −8 | −8 | −8 | −9 | −10 | −11 | −11 | −11 |
| Martin | −9 | −10 | −10 | −10 | −9 | −9 | −9 | −9 | −8 | −9 | −10 | −10 | −10 | −9 | −10 | −11 | −12 | −11 |
| Na | −8 | −8 | −8 | −6 | −6 | −7 | −8 | −8 | −8 | −8 | −8 | −8 | −8 | −9 | −9 | −10 | −10 | −9 |
| Sabbatini | −6 | −6 | −6 | −6 | −6 | −7 | −7 | −7 | −7 | −8 | −8 | −8 | −8 | −8 | −8 | −8 | −9 | −9 |
| Kirk | −10 | −10 | −10 | −9 | −8 | −8 | −9 | −9 | −9 | −9 | −9 | −9 | −9 | −8 | −7 | −7 | −7 | −7 |
Cumulative tournament scores, relative to par
Eagle Birdie Bogey Double bogey
Source:[10]
Playoff
The playoff was the first at The Players to use the three-hole aggregate format, adopted the prior year, which began at par-5 16th hole. After the three holes, Fowler and Kisner were tied, but García missed his birdie putt on 18 to continue and was eliminated. The same three holes were scheduled for sudden-death, but started at the par-3 17th, which both had birdied twice Sunday. Fowler birdied it again (his fifth on the 17th hole in six attempts for the week) to win the title.[1] The birdies were a first for the Players; its four previous playoffs, all sudden-death, had no under-par scoring.
| Place | Player | Country | Three-hole | Sudden-death | Money ($) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Score | To par | Score | To par | ||||
| 1 | Rickie Fowler | United States | 5-2-4=11 | −1 | 2 | −1 | 1,800,000 |
| T2 | Kevin Kisner | United States | 5-2-4=11 | −1 | 3 | E | 880,000 |
| Sergio García | Spain | 5-3-5=13 | +1 | ||||
- García just missed his birdie putt on 18 to continue; his one-handed tap-in did not drop and it was scored a bogey.
Source:[10]
References
- "Rickie Fowler rallies, overcomes 2 in playoff to claim Players". ESPN. Associated Press. May 11, 2015. Retrieved May 2, 2017.
- "Rickie Fowler outlasts logjam to win Players Championship". New York Times. May 11, 2015. Retrieved May 12, 2015.
- "Rickie Fowler wins title after superb finish". BBC Sport. May 11, 2015. Retrieved May 12, 2015.
- Biggane, Brian (May 10, 2015). "'Overrated' Fowler wins The Players Championship in playoff". Palm Beach Post. (Florida). Retrieved May 2, 2017.
- Thompson, Edgar (May 10, 2015). "Rickie Fowler answers critics by winning the Players Championship". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved May 2, 2017.
- "Unequaled finish earns Fowler PLAYERS Championship". PGA Tour. Associated Press. May 10, 2015. Retrieved May 2, 2017.
- Bamberger, Michael (May 18, 2015). "The Players a player". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved May 2, 2017.
- Morfit, Cameron (May 11, 2015). "Rickie Fowler wins Players Championship in playoff". GOLF. Retrieved May 2, 2017.
- "Past Results 1974 – present". PGA Tour. Retrieved March 1, 2020.
- "The Players Championship". ESPN. (Golf). May 10, 2015. Retrieved May 2, 2017.